Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy emerged as a trending topic on Twitter Thursday following reports the Ewan McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi series has been indefinitely delayed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the anticipated series has been put on hold — but not cancelled — and its episode count has dropped from six to four episodes. Both McGregor and director Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian) remain attached to the live-action Star Wars series planned for Disney+, but story issues have forced a “retooling” on the series: Lucasfilm is now searching for a replacement for original scribe Hossein Amini, whose story veered too close to The Mandalorian, according to one source close to the production.
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Troubles surrounding Obi-Wan kicked up last week when a viral hoax claimed the series had been cancelled at Lucasfilm, but sources close to the production insisted the series was moving forward. Parent company Disney has yet to comment on the pause on production.
“At this point you have to wonder how Kathleen Kennedy holds onto her title,” reads a tweet from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld. “How many productions are going to get shut down on her watch?”
Months after Kennedy fired original Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, later replacing them with veteran filmmaker Ron Howard on the young Han Solo prequel, Colin Trevorrow was pulled off Star Wars: Episode IX and replaced by returning The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams on what would become The Rise of Skywalker. The franchise had another high-profile exit when Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss departed a planned Star Wars trilogy.
Some dissatisfied fans called for Kennedy’s firing ahead of a contract set to expire in 2021. Kennedy inked her three-year extension in late 2018, six years after taking the reins from company founder and franchise creator George Lucas.
Other fans arguing against Kennedy’s removal pointed to a lack of planning on the Star Wars sequel trilogy, also overseen by Kennedy, defending the decision to delay Obi-Wan if it means ensuring the series has a cohesive story:
Slide 1
we need to get kathleen kennedy fired IMMEDIATELY pic.twitter.com/yYvClVUygI
— maia (@sithvadr) January 24, 2020
Slide 2
Star Wars fans: “The new trilogy sucks cause Kathleen Kennedy didn’t have a plan!”
— Chris Wiltz (@ChrisWiltz) January 24, 2020
Kathleen Kennedy: “I want to hold on the Obi Wan series so we can plan better.”
Fans: pic.twitter.com/kKAXNmrz28
Slide 3
POV: you’re kathleen kennedy and you just fucked up the kenobi series pic.twitter.com/sZeGI0QkTS
— maria hates kathleen kennedy (@Stxmpless) January 24, 2020
Slide 4
Kathleen Kennedy scrapping Obi-Wan Kenobi show (2020, colorized): pic.twitter.com/iWiBNRQ3gy
— Sad Kylo Ren (@KyloIsSad) January 24, 2020
Slide 5
People who are mad about anything going on with Star Wars too quickly blame Kathleen Kennedy but I also see a lot of people who complain about so much of Star Wars going out of their way to never blame Kennedy and it’s all weird. Anyway, I hope Kenobi is great when we get it!
— Eric Goldman: 2020 (@TheEricGoldman) January 24, 2020
Slide 6
Kathleen Kennedy should be fired at this point. https://t.co/q8p7Pgu6Np
— Victor @ Home (@Killafoe1) January 23, 2020
Slide 7
Also if you are worried about Obi-Wan being cancelled, don’t.
— dr. jacob dolittle (@CinematicBanter) January 23, 2020
From what I know, Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy and Ewan McGregor have been determined for years to make an Obi-Wan Kenobi project so it will happen. https://t.co/TAIfgdGMjV
Perhaps it’s possible that Kathleen Kennedy is holding out for better quality stuff? Perhaps the reason TROS sucked is not because of her and because it was co-written by the guy who made Batman v. Superman? Let’s chill, Disney+ and Obi-Wan aren’t going anywhere.
— Ryan McEachern (@ryan_mceachern) January 24, 2020
Slide 8
Toxic fans who have not read the scripts, “Kathleen Kennedy is wrong and evil by default therefore these scripts must be the most brilliant prose ever committed to page!!!!” https://t.co/IhwEih8LvB
— Ashley Lynch (@ashleylynch) January 24, 2020
SW Fans: Kathleen Kennedy had no plan for the sequels and nothing made sense.
— Mitchell McIntyre (@Emptysquare) January 24, 2020
Kathleen Kennedy: I want to take time out to make sure we have a plan, and everything in the new Obi-Wan series makes sense.
SW Fans: pic.twitter.com/Sq9D9S1Vts
Slide 9
Ahh I see Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy are Fucking up again when it comes to this #Kenobi Disney+ Series… how hard can this be boys and girl? This is the easiest fucking series to get done! #Kenobi #StarWars pic.twitter.com/SPHhY5Kx3w
— MOVIEDEATHS (@MOVIEDEATHBLOWS) January 24, 2020
Slide 10
Star Wars fans to Kathleen Kennedy when they find out she put the Obi-Wan Kenobi show on indefinite hold: pic.twitter.com/C78ZRt4G4F
— Cinememes (@Cinememes_) January 24, 2020
Photo: Jesse Grant / Getty Images for Disney
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